Replace the dopamine

So, I’ve been on the wagon for about 3 months now. And honestly, I’ve discovered my own cheat. I have bad impulse control and always have and I’ve lived long enough that I only have enough discipline and willpower to practice guitar and get up in the morning, as well as go for a workout. Other than that anything I want to change needs to be replaced with a different source of unearned dopamine. I figure it’s harm reduction.

As such I’ve just replaced the dopamine source high calorie foods served as with other unearned sources of dopamine. Some days it’s excessive cannabis use, some days I play video games. I also add dopamine to my weight loss goal - I’m an avid watch collector so I let myself buy a new watch every 10 lbs.

Call it unhealthy, call it whatever you want, but making myself obese is probably the single worst way to get that unearned dopamine so I’d say I’m doing better for myself. I’m down 15 lbs and I feel better every day.

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I lost weight and now people won’t shut the fuck up about my body

I’m just so fucking tired. It’s 9:30pm and I’m crying in my bed, completely exhausted. I’m a 31F, almost 32.

A year ago, I left my boyfriend because our relationship was going absolutely nowhere. We were stuck in a loop, and after yet another fight, I finally signed a lease somewhere else and left.

To keep my mind busy, I decided to get my life back on track. My job wasn’t bringing me any joy anymore. I’m a blue collar worker for my city at first it was cool, I was outside a lot and doing physical work, but as I gained seniority, I ended up mostly just driving trucks. On top of that, my coworkers were getting more and more on my nerves… and I still had like 25 years left of doing that.

So I decided to take control of my life and go back to school to train in arboriculture (tree climbing with ropes, cutting dangerous or problematic branches).

When I started the program, I weighed about 176 lbs and I’m 5’8. The course was extremely demanding, and having adhd, I constantly felt like I was chasing a moving train always confused, struggling to organize myself, struggling to follow steps. I truly felt like the black sheep.

Long story short, I barely made it through, but I did finish. And I’m really proud of myself.

But all that stress, the anxiety, climbing every single day, plus changing my eating habits after leaving my ex made me lose 35 lbs I went from 175 to 140.

During my training, I was on unpaid leave from work. So when I came back 9 months later, people were shocked by my weight loss. I kept telling myself they’d get used to it… but it’s been 2 months now, and every single day people bring it up. They ask what I did, my “secrets,” my tips, etc.

I try to stay nice and answer politely, but it’s getting heavy. Nothing I say is ever enough, it never satisfies them.

Today my boss said: “How do you stay in shape? You don’t even work out!?”

She KNOWS I haven’t worked out in 2 months because I’m literally always at work 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, since it’s snow removal season and it never stops snowing.

That was honestly the last straw. I seriously can’t take it anymore.

I’m the same person. The same girl. With the same body. My doctor checked everything I’m healthy.

I’m just so damn tired of hearing about it 😢

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Two(ish) Month Weight Loss Progress

SW 225 | CW 205 | GW 145 | HT 5'5"

I made a post here back in November when I finally decided to start my weight loss journey, and people gave me some really good advice about calculating calorie deficits; I'm now down 20lbs in 2.5 months, which is pretty exciting! For context, I (23F) originally gained about 50lbs my first two years out of college due to the sudden shift in activity at work (went from food service to a desk job). I had been upset with the way by body felt and looked during that time, but I didn't take initiative until this past November.

I now go to the gym five times a week for about 45 minute sessions, with upper body for two days, lower body for two days, and one core day. My daily calorie intake is currently <2000, and I've tried to eat smarter without restricting certain foods altogether. I definitely still face struggles, such as not noticing a visual change in weight or getting upset when my weight fluctuates around my period, but I'm overall really happy with my progress.

I just wanted to share my journey thus far, and I hope that it keeps trending in this direction!

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Built my own calorie & macro targets spreadsheet - looking for a sanity check

Hi all,

I’m working on a long-term weight loss plan and decided to build my own spreadsheet rather than rely entirely on an app. I’d really appreciate a quick sanity check from people who understand nutrition/macros (Link to screenshot of sheet at bottom of post).

This spreadsheet is part of a broader self-tracking system I’m building. I log individual foods in a FoodLog that references a curated FoodRef table with verified nutrition data, and a DailyLog then updates automatically by aggregating calories and macros from the FoodLog. Alongside this, I record weekly body measurements (weight, VO₂ max, and circumference measurements) and daily contextual variables like sleep hours, stool quality, exercise minutes, and exercise type. The MacroGoals sheet brings this together by defining calorie and macro targets by weight band and desired rate of loss, so I can compare planned targets against observed trends over time.

Context:

• Female, 29, ~180 cm
• Current weight ~127 kg, goal ~70-80 kg
• Focus is fat loss while preserving muscle and minimising loose skin (I understand loose skin will almost certainly be unavoidable, but i'd like to do the best I can)
• I’m aiming for sustainability over speed

What I’ve done so far:

• Calculated BMR by weight band (every 5 kg)
• Used a conservative baseline PAL (1.25) for low-activity days
• Calculated calorie targets for ~0.25, 0.5, and 0.75 kg/week loss
• On days I exercise, I add exercise calories separately rather than inflating PAL

Macros:

• Protein scales with weight (currently ~1.6 g/kg)
• Fat scales with weight (~0.8 g/kg)
• Fibre is set at ~14 g per 1000 kcal
• Carbs are calculated as the remaining calories after protein + fat

The sheet lets me pick a target rate of loss per weight band and automatically adjusts calories and fibre accordingly.

What I’m looking for feedback on:

• Do these macro assumptions look reasonable for fat loss + muscle retention?
• Any red flags in how I’m calculating protein, fibre or carbs?
• Anything you’d simplify or change if this were your setup?

Here's a link to a screenshot of my MacroGoals sheet (Imgur)

Thanks in advance 🙂

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exercise regimen

hello! for context, 24F currently 120kg was 130kg. I started weight lifting 4-5 times a week and then doing a cardio session (20-30mins) at the end of the session and I feel like i’m not seeing any progress! I know cardio is best for weight loss and i’m struggling to come up with a good weight lifting to cardio ratio to ensure i’m losing every week. Unsure whether to cut out weights altogether and just do cardio sessions?

Also, I have been big all my adult life and I don’t have a clue what is a healthy body for myself (only “slim” photos I have are from when I was 14-16 ish so I didn’t have the womanly parts I have now, so I have no idea what goal weight i’m aiming for? I won’t ever be a size 8 i have curvy family genes (chest, legs, hips etc) so I just don’t know at all! Wondering if any women here have had the same experience! Thank you in advance for any advice I’d greatly appreciate it!

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Maintenance Calories - Still losing weight despite

Hello All,

I lost 25KG (55lbs) in a few short months (high protein, low calories for 3+ months) and now I'm down to 67KG (147lbs). I'm Male and 170cm.

I've got to a weight I'm happy with and I switched to Maintenance about 90 days ago.

However I'm still losing weight, but slower. I will eat clean and fairly low calories during the week about 1200-1500 a day (3 meals a day, volume eating mostly, chicken, fish, vegetables, low carb) and come Friday night, I will eat what I did before my weight loss (in smaller doses), as a way of balancing. So for example a large pizza on Friday night with garlic bread, some ice-cream. Next day I'll have streak and chips and carb heavy foods for lunch. Beers (quite a few) on Sunday (drink one day a week only) usually with ramen or the such beforehand. They are usually 2000+ heavy days.

Come Monday back to wholefoods and low carbs and eating good.

I was doing this as a way of balancing what I eat and my calorie intake. But I'm still losing weight. I've lost 2.5KG (5.5lbs) the past 30 days and pretty much the same (if not more) the month before.

I'm not gorging myself. I'm not snacking during the weekend either. I'm just trying to balance my calories and it's not working. It's hard to count calories when food is takeaway. I've also slowed down on cardio in recent times to see if that changes anything.

Does anything have any experience to give? Everyone (understandably) talks about dieting, but maintenance has been tricky for me. Getting a balance right. I don't want to just eat more clean foods. I want some balance and moderation.

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Frustrated over weird compliments

I have after a lot of years of struggling with extreme dieting, crazy fluctuation, pregnancy and (finally) visiting a proper dietitian lost about 40 kg!

I am so happy but also haven’t realized it completely yet. I don’t like myself in photos and feel like I still have a some left.

I gained 50 kg’s while having a depression and so I feel like it’s only natural to then want to loose the 10 kg’s I “have left”

I have PCOS and on top of that I’m doing a very slow weight loss. I’m counting calories everyday, but only in a 200 deficit, just eating more vegetables but also not restricting myself and I’m eating what I feel like.

I’m really trying to do it for good this time even if it takes 7 more years.

So here’s the thing.. All of my family members (mom, dad, sister, in-laws) are all saying the same weird phrases “You aren’t going to loose anymore aren’t you?”, “I can almost see through you, I think its getting unhealthy”, “oh no, now you are weighing less than me” and “I think you are good where you are now, I think you should stop here”

I know they mean it well but it doesn’t feel well and it’s every time they see me even tho the weight hasn’t changed since last time.

I never talk about my weight loss unless asked cause I don’t want the pressure, attention or feeling ashamed if I some day gain some of it back. I’ve learned that lesson the hard way.

For context, I’m 175 cm and my BMI is at 28. It used to be 41.

I get that it’s a big change but I really need my family to cheer on me and not encouraging me to stop.

How can I talk to them without sounding selfcentered? Should I just “take the compliment”?

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M/20/5'5" (169cm) [83kg > 69kg] Lost the weight but stuck in limbo. Cut to 60kg or maingain?

I've dropped about 14kg in the last 5 months (83kg to roughly 69kg). According to BMI, I'm finally in the healthy zone, but I'm honestly not satisfied with how I look yet. I'm feeling a bit lost on where to go from here. Current Stats & Routine: Height/Weight: 169cm / 69kg Diet: Was eating 1,600 kcal, recently bumped to 1,800. Protein is high (consistently 170g+). Activity: 6k steps daily + 100 mins of Zone 3/4 cardio per week. Lifting: 4x/week (Upper/Lower split). I track consistency religiously. The Problem: Since bumping calories to 1,800, I haven't noticed much physical change. My gym performance has stalled or slightly decreased. I also have a weird strength imbalance. My lower body is decent (Squat 90kg, maxed out the leg extension machine), but my upper body lags behind significantly (Lat pull 40kg, Bench 50-60kg). The Question: I'm debating two options: Keep cutting: Drop down to around 60kg to try and hit 15% body fat, then build up. Maingain/Recomp: Stay at this weight, eat at maintenance, and hope the upper body strength catches up. Given that my lifts are stalling and I'm feeling unsatisfied despite the weight loss, what would you guys do?

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I’m stressed

18F 5'4" SW:199 CW:147 GW:120

So I recorded my weight all of last year. I’ve been trying to lose weight the whole year and I was looking back at last year on my app and it said I only lost 0.4lbs the entire year. That stresses me out so much and I just don’t understand what I’m doing wrong and what I need to do to do better. I dance a lot and walk a lot and do workouts every day. In 2024 I lost 18lbs. I went on a trip in the beginning of December and I was 141 before I went and it just threw me off a lot with the weight loss. I think I’m eating good but I don’t even know if I am.

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Stuck fluctuating at 60-63kg

I've been stuck at around 61kg for a few months now (started at 74kg) and I'm struggling to break past the last 9kg needed to my goal. I've kept a low cal diet and stay fairly active and overall have had a really good and consistent weight loss journey so far, although as of a few months ago nothings changed. I haven't really been following any set plans or diets, just general tracking of calories, nutrition, and activity. I want to keep a decent relationship with my food and keep a healthy mindset so I didn't want to eliminate foods just make sure to eat balanced and intuitively. Although now I'm at this wall and I'm a little stuck on what to do next.

Has anyone else experienced anything similar and has an idea of what could help? I'm not against trying a specific diet although I suppose I'm just a bit tentative seeing as I have heard a lot of stories about how people regress a lot after coming off the diet when they reach their goal weight or are just generally struggle with the limitations.

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Too Fast Weight Loss?

I know this isn’t a common thing in terms of weight loss, but I’m genuinely concerned about gallstones. When my father lost a bunch of weight quickly years ago, he wound up having to have had his gallbladder removed because of the gallstones. I never thought I would experience rapid weight loss, but here I am.

My husband and I are both counting calories together, and started January at 280lb (him) and 238lb (me). We weigh daily, and he has been averaging just over a 500 calorie deficit and I have been around 700 calorie deficit. I am breastfeeding our 6 month old who is only starting to try foods (he is 20lb chunker who nurses well!).

I’m worried because we’ve both lost weight more rapidly than either of us were expecting. We were expecting not to see much progress the first 4-6 weeks followed by a flush followed by a steady loss of 1-2 pounds depending on our deficit. We would not consider ourselves active people. He works from home, I’m a stay at home mom to our 4 kids. I cook nearly all of our meals completely from scratch. We do not exercise regularly, I have a mini stair stepped that gets used infrequently. The only “regular” activity that we do is use our stairs a lot (his office, the kids‘ playroom, and the pantry are in the walkout basement but the kitchen, bathrooms, living room are on the main floor).

My husband is now 256lb, officially dropping from Class II Obese to Class I for a total loss in 32 days of 24 pounds. I’m down to 217 pounds, a 21 pound loss in the same amount of time. Our family members around have been talking already how much thinner our faces and stomachs are looking without us even bringing the topic up. Clothes are fitting better, or in my husband’s case falling off (we have to buy him new pants!).

While of course thrilling, I am getting worried. I saw my dad suffer and I don’t want to experience that or for my husband to experience that. We are not taking ANY meds, no GLP-1s or diet pills or anything like that. Just manageable lifestyle changes. The only supplements we are taking are inositol, collagen, soluble fiber, Omega-3 fish oil, and calcium as needed. There are no off limit foods, everything gets fit into our macros. Protein is set at 1.2g/kg or 0.55g/lb of our goal weights and 25g fiber for me and 30g for him. We eat out MAYBE once a week (yesterday we met friends up at Chipotle for instance). We still have our morning coffee. We are not low fat. Everything is just…in moderation.

We were expecting to see stagnation, a slowdown, or a plateau, something by now. But nope. My husband sees basically the same weight on the scale day to day followed by a random drop that then becomes his new weight day to day before another drop. Mine changes pretty wildly day to day, but just keeps trending down. Our energy is great, hydration is great, and besides the occasional gas/bloating on the days we’ve had too much finer, we’ve had no issues. Satiety is great, cravings are mostly gone and the few ones we have are easily controlled.

So what do we do to avoid gallstones?

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should i change anything about my routine?

hello! 19F here. i weigh ~72 kg while being around 1.62 cm.

i’m new to this subreddit, and i am also starting on my weight loss journey.

it’s been a week since i started, and before starting my weight was ~74kg (74.5 or something, i didn’t care much for the number after the point back then)

i’ve been mainly on a calorie deficit (not really a strict one, i ate the same as everyday but i also cut unnecessary snacks) and i also focused on doing +10k steps everyday :) i am also on the treadmill everyday for 30 mins, 12 incline and 3 speed!

a lot of people told me i also need to do strength training for losing weight, but i feel like i’m doing good with this and i don’t want to be muscular… i mainly want to have a good body, not being strong.

so, can someone tell me if what im doing already is good enough or should i also make some strength training? i’m open to listen as long as you’re not mean with it! thank youu :)

(also, im sorry for the kg and cm measurements. i am from europe, so those are the ones i use)

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